
    RoboSoft systems is pleased to offer several utilities for the GAP 
    sysop in our GAP-Pro line of programs.  The GAP-Pro line currently 
    consists of:

         GAP_LIST - The External File Lister for GAP
         GAP_Verify - The External Filebase Verifier for GAP
         Forum_Shuffle - The Forum Arranger for GAP
         GAP_Merge - The Filebase Merger/Re-arranger for GAP

    Demos of all of the GAP-Pro utilities are available for download 
    from The Cookie Jar at 714-997-0350.  See the enclosed GAP-PRO.REG
    file for pricing and order information.

    Included with any order from the GAP-Pro utility line is a free 
    copy of our NEWMSGS program.  NEWMSGS does essentially what the
    GAP NEWMAIL utility does, update the counts of unread messages,
    but does it in minutes instead of hours.


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              GAP_LIST - The External File Lister for GAP          

    GAP_LIST is an external program used to generate file listings for 
    GAP BBSs.  It will allow you to easily and quickly create file 
    listings while you wait or in an event.
    
    Why do you need a program such as this when GAPFILE can already 
    produce file listings?  Well, to start with, GAP_LIST was created 
    with just one purpose in mind -- to create file lists.  It has been 
    highly optimized for this specific mission.  GAP_LIST also 
    generates all of the requested listings with just a single pass 
    through the database.  What this adds up to is speed and 
    flexibility. On my system I can generate condensed and enhanced 
    listings for all areas AND for each subject in those areas, in well 
    under half the time it takes to do just a condensed listing with 
    GAPFILE.
    
    Here's a brief list of GAP_LIST's major features:
    
     - Creates Master lists of all areas and subjects specified in the 
       configuration file.      
     - Creates Area (Forum) lists including all subjects or individual 
       subjects specified in the configuration file.    
     - Creates individual listings for each area/subject.  (Registered 
       version only)    
     - Can create separate Condensed, Enhanced, Raw, and New (Registered 
       version only) File listings in each of the categories above.    
     - Creates a color summary bulletin listing the number of files and 
       total bytes in each area and subject.    
     - Allows files to be excluded from the listings according to 
       security level.    
     - Multi-user version can be run while users are still online.    
     - Configuration file is plain ASCII so it's easy to change and you 
       can have any number of different configurations.           
    
    GAP_LIST comes in two versions, one for single-node boards and one 
    for multi-node boards.  (The multi-node version is available to 
    registered users only.) You can use the single-node version on 
    multi-node boards, but you must be sure that all nodes are inactive 
    before running GAP_LIST. The multi-node version allows you to 
    generate file listings while users are online and can be easily set 
    up to run from an event.  (The multi-node version requires that you 
    have a multi-node version of GAP.)
    
    
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         GAP_Verify - The External Filebase Verifier for GAP
           
    
    GAP_Verify is a batch mode maintenance tool for the GAP filebase.  
    It's primary functions are:
    
      1.  Verify the size, date, and location of files in  the 
          filebase.  
      2.  Word-wrap the enhanced descriptions to fit the 72-character 
          line allowed by GAP.  
      3.  Extract and use FILE_ID.DIZ descriptions if found in .ZIP 
          files.  
      4.  Re-parse the keywords using a sysop-defined list of words 
          to be excluded from use as indexed keywords.  
      5.  Look for "lost" files on the hard drive.  These are files 
          that exist on the hard drive but aren't in the GAP filebase.
    
    There are many options available to control exactly what gets done 
    and how it is accomplished, but these are the base functions.
    
    To provide for extremely fast operation, GAP_Verify makes use of 
    advanced virtual memory techniques.  If you have a couple megabytes 
    of EMS/XMS memory available, GAP_Verify should just about fly on 
    your machine.  The verify process should run anywhere from twice as 
    fast to upwards of ten times as fast as the GAPFILE UPDATE 
    function, depending on exactly what is being updated.
    
    GAP_Verify can word-wrap the enhanced descriptions to 72-character 
    lines, optionally filtering out the high-ASCII characters often used 
    to draw cute boxes around the descriptions.  
    
    You can have GAP_Verify look for a FILE_ID.DIZ in each .ZIP file it 
    verifies.  If found, the DIZ description will be extracted and used 
    to replace the current description.  Related to this function is the 
    ability to specify a list of words which should not be indexed as 
    keywords if found in the DIZ description.  This can cut down 
    tremendously on the size of your FILEKEY files by eliminating 
    nonsense keywords.
    
    GAP_Verify can re-parse the existing keywords using the keyword 
    exclusion list mentioned above.  The parsing algorithm used by 
    GAP_Verify is slightly different than that used by GAP itself and 
    should result in a slight improvement in the resulting list of 
    keywords.
    
    GAP_Verify can also print out a list of the files encountered in the 
    directories it searched during the verification process that did not 
    show up in the filebase.  If used correctly, this can help find a 
    lot of dead wood on your hard drives (or locate files that fell 
    into the cracks).
    
    One particularly handy use for GAP_Verify is to periodically scan 
    your upload area and extract the FILE_ID.DIZ descriptions from the 
    files uploaded in non-batch mode.  It will also update the file 
    sizes to correct for comments added to the ZIP during UPCHECK 
    processing.
    
    Because the whole idea behind GAP_Verify is speedy verification of 
    your filebase, it allows a great degree of control over which files 
    are verified and which directories are searched when looking for 
    files.  You can tell GAP_Verify to ignore one or more partitions 
    during its scan of the filebase.  Any files that reside on those 
    partitions, according to the location in the filebase, will be 
    completely skipped.  
    
    You can tell GAP_Verify to scan entire partitions, specific 
    directories, or any combination of the two.  So if you want it to 
    scan all of drive D:, but only a couple directories on drive E:, 
    GAP_Verify can handle it.
    
    You can provide a list of specific files that should be skipped.  
    This list gives you complete control over exactly which 
    characteristic of the file (size, date, location, description, DIZ, 
    keywords) should be skipped/ignored during the verification.  
    Because this list might be rather lengthy, GAP_Verify can even 
    generate one for you.
    
    If you use the parameter file method to tell GAP_Verify which 
    partitions and/or directories to scan, it will automatically create 
    a file containing the names of the directories it scanned.  If, on a 
    later run, you haven't modified the parameter file, GAP_Verify will 
    simply load the directory names from the file it previously created.  
    If your directory structure changes infrequently, this technique can 
    save quite a bit of startup time.
    
    GAP_Verify will automatically create a log file listing information 
    about all the filebase entries it modified.
    
    All the GAP_Verify parameters can be specified on the command line.  
    If you missed one or more required parameters, GAP_Verify will 
    prompt you for those parameters.  Because there are so many control 
    parameters whose command-line versions are a bit cryptic, you can 
    set up an environment variable with a default set of parameters and 
    specify overrides or additions, if necessary, on the command line.
    
    If you don't want to mess with the command line, just put GAP_Verify 
    in your GAP default directory and run it.  It will prompt you for 
    each required parameter and give you a complete explanation of what 
    each is for.  There are a few of the "fine tuning" features of 
    GAP_Verify that are only available from the command line, but 
    you'll probably never miss them if you really don't want to mess 
    with the command line.
    
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             Forum_Shuffle - The Forum Arranger for GAP
              
    Forum_Shuffle will allow you to quickly and easily change the
    arrangement of the forums on your GAP BBS.  It will do everything 
    except update your menus.  All you have to do is figure out what 
    order you want the forums in and Forum_Shuffle will do the rest, 
    including rearranging all the files required for GAPQWK and 
    MainMail.
    
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           GAP_Merge - The Filebase Merger/Re-arranger for GAP
    
    
    GAP_Merge is a GAP filebase maintenance utility that will allow you 
    to merge two GAP filebases together or to re-arrange the ordering of 
    subjects in an existing GAP filebase.  The merge function is great 
    when adding a CD-ROM, such as one of the Pier Exchange CDs, that 
    comes with a GAP filebase.
    
    GAP_Merge will allow you to specify the mapping of subjects from 
    source to destination filebase.  If you want files from Area 0, 
    Subject 5 in the source to end up in Area 2, Subject 3 in the 
    destination, GAP_Merge can handle it.  It will also do drive 
    translations so you can map drive E: from the source filebase to 
    drive X: in the destination filebase.
    
    If the destination filebase does not exist, GAP_Merge will create 
    it.  This allows you to use the subject mapping capabilities to 
    move your files around.
    
    GAP_Merge comes in single-node and multi-node versions.  The 
    multi-node version allows you to merge filebases while users are 
    still online.  (This isn't really recommended due to the heavy load 
    the merge places on the system, but you can do it if you have to.)
    
                                                                                            